Black Friday is upon us. But here’s what you need to know to save this weekend around Decatur. (Decatur area businesses – you are welcome to advertise their deals this weekend in the comments section below.)

Amex – Small Business Saturday – Up to $30 Credit on Your Credit Card

Get up to $30 back from American Express when you spend at local stores. OK, so here’s how this works.

Check their map for participating shops and restaurants. Here’s a selection of shops participating in downtown Decatur

Little Shop of Stories

Eddie’s Attic

Vivid Boutique

Homegrown

Squash Blossom

Sq/Ft

Unlimited PCS

Collage Gift

Select Soles

Kimball House

Harbour Bar

Sapori di Napoli

Jeni’s Ice Cream

Spend at least $10 at up to 3 participating shops on November 29th and get a $10 credit on your Amex statement for each purchase.

That’s it!

Decatur – Small Business Weekend Festivities, Giveaways and Santa!

The City of Decatur also has gotten in the Small Business Saturday game the last few years and this year they’re expanding the offerings across the whole weekend. S

Saturday and Sunday, Decatur is hosting a variety of festivities on Decatur Square including “live music, giveaways, free gift wrapping for city of Decatur shop purchases, and a special Saturday Santa appearance (Santa will be in the event tent on the Square from 3-5pm. Visits are FREE, bring your own camera to take pictures.)” according to the Decatur Minute.

“Spend $200 at any Decatur shop during the month of November, bring your receipts to the Decatur Visitors Center and receive a $20 gift card from a local restaurant. You don’t have to spend $200 all in one place, just make sure you keep all of your receipts from any store located in City of Decatur any day of the week (not just Thursdays!). Bring your receipts to the Visitor’s Center at 113 Clairemont Ave. and you’ll have your choice of gift cards from one of Decatur’s restaurants. Limited to 3 cards per person while supplies last. We will be taking receipts on Nov. 29th and 30th at the event tent on the Square.”

Within a day of “Cyber Monday” in 2013, we began to experience package thefts in various neighborhoods around Decatur. The thefts were occurring at single family homes as well as multi-unit condo properties. Unfortunately as many of us start our holiday shopping, others are starting their holiday stealing. The best defense to counter those who forage our community for packages is a good offense. Here are some tips that may help.

Prevention Tips:

– If possible, ship your packages to your work location or a location where you know someone will be there to receive the package such as the home of a friend or loved one who you know is home during the day.

– Request that a signature be required to deliver the package.

– Track your packages and ask a family member, friend or neighbor to look out and take the packages in when they arrive.

– If you are traveling, make sure to ask a family member, friend or neighbor to check for packages at your home. You may have received a gift delivery you were not expecting.

– If you live at a location that requires passcode or keycard entry, do not let people you do not know tag-a-long behind you and enter the property. If they are aggressive, do not confront them, call police immediately and provide a detailed description of the person, what they are wearing and where they were last seen.

– If you observe people you do not recognize on a neighbor’s property, pay attention and if it appears they are removing packages, call police immediately and provide the same descriptive information and also watch to see if the person goes back to a vehicle and provide a description of the vehicle and their direction of travel.

– Keep an eye out in your neighborhood for vehicles that appear to be following delivery trucks and stopping at locations where the delivery trucks just made a delivery.

Also, shipping companies are now offering various options for deliveries such as scheduling your deliveries and receiving alerts the day before packages will be delivered. You can also reroute or reschedule deliveries or arrange for in-store pick-up if you are not able to be home to accept them.

Find out what options are available for a more secure delivery from the delivery company you are using. Monitor and inventory your deliveries and don’t assume your packages were sent in separate shipments. In some instances some packages are stolen while some were left behind.

Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Markets LLC is scouting sites in the area, according to people familiar with the company’s expansion efforts.

The grocer recently was named No. 1 on a list of 100 “hot” retailers (ranked by sales growth) from Stores Media, the publishing arm of the National Retail Federation.

It seems like every larger scale mixed use development in Decatur starts out by talking about adding a “grocery store”, but the next question is always “Which one?” Publix and Kroger are already rather prevalent in the area and Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have made it clear that the area doesn’t work for them. Perhaps Sprouts could be the answer. Or perhaps not…

The chain is focused on entering upper income areas. Cities along Georgia 400, such as Sandy Springs, Alpharetta or Roswell, and along the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard corridor, including Chamblee, Johns Creek or Duluth, could be targeted, insiders say. The target demographic is people ages 25 and older, especially the Gen Y consumer.

OK, so tomorrow is the 3rd annual official “Small Business Saturday”, created by American Express back in 2010 to give small businesses the exposure at the height of the holiday shopping season. Here’s what you need to know to make the most of it (read: get the most free/discounted stuff while supporting local businesses)

If you have an American Express card, GO HERE right now and register your card. Then when you spend $25 or more at a local business around Decatur or elsewhere tomorrow (and tomorrow ONLY), you will receive a $25 credit on your Amex statement some time in the next 8 weeks.

(You may want to steer clear of using Amex’s “Find out where to shop” map. It’s still got “El Tesoro” as a “Buy Local” option, along with some other shops that have never existed!)

And don’t forget, the City of Decatur has gotten on the Small Business Saturday bandwagon this year too, with events on Decatur Square and in Harmony park tomorrow. Also, the city is offering shoppers a $20 gift card to a local Decatur restaurant if you bring in at least $200 in November receipts from Decatur shops to the 2nd floor of city hall.